Trump’s Plan to Defund Public Schools: Project 2025’s Dangerous Blueprint

With the Election Day just 12 days away, former President Donald Trump's looming return to power brings with it the unsettling reality of Project 2025. This far-right manifesto threatens to dismantle public education as we know it. With 992-page agenda, titled "Mandate for Leadership," was developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

While Trump attempts to distance himself by saying he has not read its proposals and does not know who is behind it. But Project 2025 has numerous ties to Trump and his campaign, a New York Times analysis has found. Over half of the 307 authors on this document have come from his administration, campaign, or transition team. Large portions of the "Mandate for Leadership," the driving document behind Project 2025, were written by longtime Trump loyalists who were advisers to Trump during his first term.

While he attempts to distract, The New York Times analysis reported, "Spokespeople for Project 2025 have denied that they are advocates for any particular candidate, and Project 2025 has no official ties to the Trump campaign. But the president of the Heritage Foundation told The New York Times in an interview in January that he views the foundation's role as 'institutionalizing Trumpism.'"

The stakes of this election could not be higher. This isn't just a plan - Trump has said on Fox News this month that he will "take the Department of Education, close it. I'm gonna close it." When asked what his response would be to "liberal cities" school's teaching CRT, he responds, "Then we don't send them money."

If Trump wins, Project 2025 outlines drastic policies that could reshape the nation, with public education squarely in the crosshairs. For educators, parents, and supporters of public schools, it's critical to understand the implications of Project 2025. The plan is nothing short of a declaration of war on public education, aiming to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, roll back civil rights protections for students, and undermine decades of progress in educational equity.

For a full accounting of how Project 2025 would derail public education, higher education, and organized labor, see our previous Hotline article. But as a reminder, here are some of the most dire consequences of a second Trump term.

Elimination of the Department of Education

The plan calls for eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. Many vital functions would be transferred to other agencies or eliminated entirely, potentially leading to inconsistent education policies nationwide. Abolishing the Department of Education would remove crucial federal oversight and involvement in K-12 education that ensures educational equity and protects students' rights.

Perhaps the first step to address our educational concerns is listening to educators, not dismantling one of the few agencies that protect our public schools …

Funding Challenges

Title I funding is one of the most significant federal education programs, providing financial support to schools serving students from low-income households. Project 2025 proposes a dramatic shift in how this funding is handled.

Instead of providing direct support to our schools, the plan seeks to convert Title I funding into no-strings-attached block grants, giving states broad discretion with little federal oversight. This could lead to stark disparities between states, particularly in Texas, where public education funding is already under strain from charter schools and legislative inaction.

For the 63% of schools eligible for Title I funds, this shift could result in a devastating loss of resources leaving our most vulnerable students without an equitable education. These funds are crucial for hiring staff, purchasing educational materials, and offering extra support to disadvantaged students. Project 2025's block grant model would erode these lifelines, widening the gap between affluent and low-income schools.

'School Choice' and Privatization

The plan strongly advocates expanding "school choice" options, including charter schools and vouchers/education savings accounts (ESAs). Ultimately, it envisions that "every parent should have the option to direct his or her child's share of education funding through an education savings account (ESA), funded overwhelmingly by state and local taxpayers," in part by allowing for the, "portability of existing federal education spending to fund families directly or allowing federal tax credits to encourage voluntary contributions to K-12 education savings accounts."

On the surface, "school choice" seems to offer parents more options for their children's education, but in reality, a push for universal vouchers and ESAs funnels taxpayer money away from public schools and into private institutions, many of which lack the accountability and transparency required of public schools. Even without a voucher program, recent analysis from the Network for Public Education showcases clearly that the charter school experiment in Texas is failing many of its students and is pulling funding from our communities. Project 2025 aims to exacerbate this issue.

School Meals and Child Nutrition

The plan opposes efforts to expand federal school meals to all K-12 students regardless of need as proposed by some members of Congress and the Biden Administration. The plan recommends eliminating the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which currently allows schools or districts with 40% or more eligible students to offer free meals to all students. It also proposes restricting summer meal programs to students attending summer school classes, rather than providing meals to all students during summer months.

The opposition to universal school meals is troubling, as these programs have been crucial in addressing food insecurity. According to a recent study, Texas already leads the nation in food insecurity. The plan suggests moving school nutrition programs from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Health and Human Services. Moving nutrition programs to HHS could disrupt well-established systems and potentially reduce access.

Over 3 million Texas students receive free or reduced-price lunches, but many who are eligible don't participate due to stigma and red tape. Texas also recently rejected almost half a billion dollars in federal aid for summer meal benefits, which Texas AFT urges the state to opt into for 2025.

Special Education

Every child deserves a high-quality education. However, for students with disabilities in Texas public schools, that is too often not the reality. While the state allocates funding for special education services, a complex funding system and recent cuts leave many districts struggling to meet federal mandates and, more importantly, the unique needs of these students. Project 2025 does nothing to address this.

Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding would be converted into a no-strings-attached formula block grant. Oversight of IDEA would be moved to the Department of Health and Human Services. The plan suggests allowing families to use IDEA funds for private learning options and related expenses, like the structure of voucher programs. Converting IDEA funding to a block grant could lead to inconsistent support for students with disabilities across states. We're concerned this change could result in reduced services for some of our most vulnerable students.

Educators' Unions

The plan calls for rescinding the National Education Association's (NEA's) congressional charter. It criticizes both the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) using litigation and lobbying efforts to block vouchers and advocate for increased education spending, threatening to potentially weaken educators' collective bargaining power (in states with such worker protections) and ability to advocate for themselves and their students. Repealing this protection would get rid of one of the few protections that our communities have to ensure that students' and educators' needs are being met.

Don't Want This to Happen? Vote.

Project 2025 is not just "concepts of a plan," it is a promise that Trump intends to keep on Day 1. Project 2025 is a roadmap to dismantle public education and erode the rights of students and educators. As Texans, we've seen firsthand the dangers of underfunding public schools, and we cannot afford to let this agenda take hold.

At Texas AFT, we stand firmly against Project 2025 and urge all advocates of public education to vote your conscience and speak out against these dangerous agenda. Together, we must protect our schools, our students, and our profession from this extremist agenda.

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